Atopic dermatitis

I wonder if anyone has experience of this in their dogs?

I (and our vet) are not yet sure that this is what Jimmi has, but from everything I have read it does seem very likely, poor little chap.

Yesterday, I caught him chewing his pads AGAIN and unfortunately he had already made himself raw and consequently is now very sore and limping. I will have to go back to the vet, and see if there is anything else beside his salmon and potato diet that can be done..........there must be some medication surely???

If anybody has had success I would be delighted to hear about it.

My last GSD had this. After much trial and error we found she was allergic to cat fleas, food colourings and some grasses. So she had flea spot-on every month, ate Burns complete and home-made treats and had a anti-histamine type injection to cover the summer months (don`t ask what - it was a French vet).
Anti-bacterial shampoos when she had hot-spots were good to prevent secondary infection.
It`s difficult, as there are so many possible triggers. Have you thought about what your floors are cleaned with (as it`s his pads)?
I have heard that you should work on building up their immune system.

Thank you for that...........it seems to be such a grey area doesn't it, and from my research so far there are so many triggers and possible causes that my head is swimming.

I don't think that the floor cleaner is the problem because ( ) I hadn't cleaned the hard floors for a few days before this latest flare up.

I will go back to the vet and see if we can try some shampoos and antihistamines

Two of our bitches have had flea allergy dermatitis (they have never had fleas, but they like to stick their heads down rabbit holes!) Try Maleseb shampoo, we have found it's good but you must use it every day. We have also found Dermacton to be good, you can buy this in a cream, a spray or a soap bar from various websites (just google it ) As with the Maleseb, it's gentle enough to use every day and it's very good for stopping inching. I know of a dog that used to chew her pads, Dermacton worked wonders for her. Hope this helps, and I hope he gets some relief soon, it's such a shame when they are constantly inching. Can't be very nice for him, poor boy Best of luck.

Atopic dermatitis, is so hard, my dog has it but also just found out he has thyroid problems also which exacerbate the condition and leaves them much more susceptible to allergies. He had always had flea allergies but never to the extent he did about two years ago, they can go on steroids but has long term use issues.
Not sure how old your dog is, but allergy testing may be worth a go (my boy was too old apparently for that to be worth it).
Not sure if it is dietary or not but the feet often mean it can be a contact allergy (grass, floor cleaners etc).
It can be a long and frustrating road, there are so many allergies they can have and some are unpreventable.
Washes are good antibacterial etc I use Malaseb and use to dunk his feet after he had been outside to see if it was grass and really it did seen to help, but not fix it.
All the skin inflammations they get are secondary to the actual problem and that is why it may be worth allergy testing to preventing or reducing the problem.
Good luck and let us know how you go

Thank you Emma and Wheaten Mad......yes it is extremely frustrating and so upsetting, and we are going back to the Vet tomorrow to see what he says. When we first brought Jimmi home earlier in the year he was itchy all over but the Salmon and Potato diet has calmed this down thank goodness and now it is just the feet. I did wonder about the contact allergy thing, but his flare ups seem to come at irregular times and it is impossible to pin anything down.

Emma, he is of unknown age but is down as geriatric at the Vets!!! I am very reluctant to have the allergy test done, because it involves shaving the hair and we are still having terrible problems with the shaved area on his neck from when he had his blood test many weeks ago. It was so nearly cleared up this morning, and then tonight he had a good scratch and he has made a mess of it again.

Wheaten Mad - that Dermacton sounds to be just what I am looking for; after seeing the Vet I will order some. It might help with his shaved neck too.

Just to say Emma and Wheaten Mad, I have looked at the Dermacton website and ordered some cream!!! Decided not to wait because it looks so good.

I assume that it is quite safe if they should lick it off?

Bitkin, I have never used Dermacton so am unsure of its use, this is a site I found though that may answer some of your questions in regards to it, but can offer you no personal opinion on it
http://www.equinat-usa.com/directions/DermactonFAQ.htm

I feel your pain of the shaved hair areas, Scratch is the same, they scratch at it (yes that is how he got his name, I do wonder if I had called him Dontscratch if that would have made a difference ), just a thought as to the neck and scratching, if whatever is flaring his feet up, and then he scratches his neck, I wonder if that makes it worse, if it is a contact allergy, I have wondered this with S but there is no real way of stopping them.
What sort of wash do you use? At S's worst I was washing him every second day, it could have quite easily been done daily as he was that bad. The vet said every second day was good as the Malaseb wash was helping relieve the itching and the ooze (yellowy, watery sort of stuff).
Since allergy testing is not the goes, have you talked to your vet about cyclosporine or steroidal or antihistamine use at all??
My vet said when they are allergic to something quite often allergic to more than one thing so maybe food as one and he also has another. Anyway just a thought.
Good luck, let us know what the vet says

Ive never used it but have read good reports about Thornit powder? I had a look at their webbo the other day and it mentions itchy feet (you put their feet in a little bag with some powder in it) and can also dust it all over?

Like I said no personal experience but might be worth a try?

Hi there,

We have just had Ella our 2 year old GSD at a vet referred to us by our own vet. She is a specialist in allergens.
So on Friday we were there for quite some time and left Ella for 2 hours and she had lots of skin tests.
The results were given to us and the vet is now sending to Holland for a vaccine in the hope it will work. Since the day we got Ella we have tried everything and anything in the hope her skin and pads would improve with no luck, so fingers crossed that when this vaccine gets here it will work.

I meant to say she is allergic to grass, dust mites, storage mites, fleas, scottish pine trees, (we live in scotland and they are everywhere) she is also allergic to pork, beef, chicken, and various other foods.